The Indian Express: Gandhinagar: Monday, 29 Jan 2024.
A local court in Gandhinagar Sunday sent a 57-year-old man to six days police custody for allegedly extorting money from schools for nearly 12 years after accessing information about them through the Right to Information Act.
The accused, identified as Mahendra Patel, was arrested late Saturday and booked on the basis of a complaint filed by Pravin Gajera, a trustee of Jai Ambe Vidya Bhavan, who runs around 18 schools across different districts in the state.
Police also recovered Rs 1.47 crore in cash and around 200-300 files of various schools after raids at Mahendra’s residence Saturday following Gajera’s complaint.
According to police, the accused has been allegedly extorting money from schools since 2012. “Mahendra Patel used to file RTI, ask the regional DEO about schools and on what grounds were they given the permission. After getting the information, he used to take it to the school’s board and state that they don’t have certain permission. Then, he’d write to the DEO about it and get the school closed,” Deputy Superintendent of Police Ashvin Patel told The Indian Express.
The police said he used to arrive in a “Gujarat government” car and hence, various school authorities assumed he was a state government official. In his complaint, Gajera stated that Mahendra asked him to pay him so that he would not be harassed by the office of the Gujarat Secondary Education Board in Gandhinagar.
Subsequently, Gajera paid Mahendra Rs 11 lakh in cash at the latter’s residence. This, as per Gajera, continued every three-four months between 2015 and 2017, with nearly 11 visits during which he paid Mahendra Rs 66 lakh. However, he ceased the payments after realising that Mahendra has been extorting other schools also for years and filed a complaint with the Gujarat CID Crime.
Mahendra has been charged under various IPC sections, including impersonating a public servant, extortion and putting a person in fear or accusation of offence to commit extortion.
A local court in Gandhinagar Sunday sent a 57-year-old man to six days police custody for allegedly extorting money from schools for nearly 12 years after accessing information about them through the Right to Information Act.
The accused, identified as Mahendra Patel, was arrested late Saturday and booked on the basis of a complaint filed by Pravin Gajera, a trustee of Jai Ambe Vidya Bhavan, who runs around 18 schools across different districts in the state.
Police also recovered Rs 1.47 crore in cash and around 200-300 files of various schools after raids at Mahendra’s residence Saturday following Gajera’s complaint.
According to police, the accused has been allegedly extorting money from schools since 2012. “Mahendra Patel used to file RTI, ask the regional DEO about schools and on what grounds were they given the permission. After getting the information, he used to take it to the school’s board and state that they don’t have certain permission. Then, he’d write to the DEO about it and get the school closed,” Deputy Superintendent of Police Ashvin Patel told The Indian Express.
The police said he used to arrive in a “Gujarat government” car and hence, various school authorities assumed he was a state government official. In his complaint, Gajera stated that Mahendra asked him to pay him so that he would not be harassed by the office of the Gujarat Secondary Education Board in Gandhinagar.
Subsequently, Gajera paid Mahendra Rs 11 lakh in cash at the latter’s residence. This, as per Gajera, continued every three-four months between 2015 and 2017, with nearly 11 visits during which he paid Mahendra Rs 66 lakh. However, he ceased the payments after realising that Mahendra has been extorting other schools also for years and filed a complaint with the Gujarat CID Crime.
Mahendra has been charged under various IPC sections, including impersonating a public servant, extortion and putting a person in fear or accusation of offence to commit extortion.
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